Battles of Trenton and Princeton

As I write this blog entry, it's December 27, 2007. Two hundred and thirty-one years ago this week, George Washington and the Continental Army had just defeated the Hessians at Trenton, New Jersey -- a worthy Christmas present for the infant United States.

And Washington was now struggling to keep his army from disintegrating due to expired enlistments as well as inadequate pay and provisions.

General Washington was working to keep his army together, while eluding a determined counterattack by British General Lord Cornwallis. Washington would survive Cornwallis' pursuit and score another upset victory at Princeton.

The battles of Trenton and Princeton (and the maneuverings of December 1776 and January 1777) would prove to be the most important campaign of the American Revolution (barring perhaps Yorktown).

Anyone who doubts this should consult David Hackett Fisher's masterful Washington's Crossing...



...and for those wanting to know just how tenuous the War for Independence was going into the New Jersey campaign, pick up a copy of David McCullough's bestselling 1776.